Rare summer storm brings rain, WIND, possible power outages here

Update 12:30 p.m. power out. Wind gusts to 30 mph.

View from Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, 9 a.m. Saturday.

Update 6:45 a.m. Saturday. Overnight rain = 0.27 inches.

The National Weather Service in Seattle is predicting winds gusting to 45 mph here in a  storm expected to blow in overnight.

“Gusts of 40-45 for the I-5 corridor; 50 mph for the areas around the Admiralty Inlet,” the weather service said in a comment on its Facebook page.

From a  Special Weather Statement issued early this morning:

WINDS THIS STRONG USUALLY OCCUR IN FALL AND WINTER. THUS…THIS WIND EVENT COULD CREATE MORE PROBLEMS DUE TO THE DECIDUOUS TREES STILL HAVING THEIR LEAVES. THIS WILL MAKE THE BRANCHES MORE PRONE TO SNAPPING IN STRONG WINDS. IN ADDITION TO THE POSSIBILITY OF DOWNED TREE LIMBS…THE GUSTY WINDS COULD CAUSE LOCAL POWER OUTAGES.

Rain totals of perhaps an inch are expected here this weekend.

Scott Sistek at KOMO TV (source of the graphic above) this afternoon posted:

A potent — and apparently calendar-challenged — storm is swirling offshore and is expected to roll into Western Washington on Saturday, not only bringing a heavy dose of rain, but wind speeds typically unheard of in summer. It’s even prompted wind advisories for most of the region in a time when local forecasters can’t ever remember issuing one before.

The storm will push inland into the Seattle Metro and I-5 corridor by late Saturday morning into early Saturday afternoon and then into the Northwest Interior. A Wind Advisory is in effect for the greater Seattle/Puget Sound metro area from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.